Family Vacation to LA & SD - Tips?

[onewhippedpuppy]

We're planning a family vacation this summer to LA and San Diego, I'm looking for some tips on the area. We'll be there one week, my kids are 6 (son) 3 (daughter) and 9 mo (son). Flying into LAX because it's a direct flight to/from Wichita, and dirt cheap. Stuff we're looking at right now:

Beach - San Diego or LA?
Sea World
SD Zoo & Safari Park
Some sort of theme park - Disney, Universal, ???

What would you guys suggest for other ideas? I'd like to get some travel booked now before the gas prices drive up plane tickets.

[crustychief]

For the beach, I cast a vote for La Jolla, it is nice and the Birch aquarium is very near.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I'm not wanting to do just theme parks either, I just found the USS Midway museum that looks pretty cool.

[Embraer]

be sure to head a bit east into the mojave and see joshua tress and that type of stuff. joshua trees can't be found anywhere else in the world!

the thing that impresses me most about california is how different the terrain and landscape becomes, in a short amount of time.

[Capt. Crunch]

The beaches in Los Angeles county are cold and dirty. If you are not going to get in the water Pacific Coast Highway is a beautiful drive along the coast.

+ 1 for SDZoo and Safari Park -

[onewhippedpuppy]

We'll definitely want to get into the water, so that's a consideration. Is La Jolla the best bet for a swimming beach? Timeframe will be early July, I'm assuming the water temps are decent by then?

[Seahawk]

The water is always cold.

I don't know LA as well as I used to, but for SD, try the following:

- Zoo - Duh
- Coronado for the beach...and because the town is nice as well. A walk down Orange Avenue is fun. If you and the Mrs. want to step out, try McP's.
- Julian. Small town in the mountains outside of San Diego. They host an apple festival during the summer. The drive is great.
- Take in a Padres games...the stadium is awesome.
- Walk the Gas Lamp District with the kids, good,family places to eat.
- Drive to Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma. The views are stupendous.
- Have breakfast at Jalisco's Cafe in Imperial Beach. I did, many times...it was great in 1984!
- As others have mentioned, drive the desert.

Enjoy!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

SD Zoo is great - the wild animal park is even better.

Seaport Village is fun (but expensive), when you get up towards OC and LA you can hit all the typical touristy things (Disneyland, Knotts, etc). Further north I'd recommend a cuoe of hours at SM Pier and/or Venice "just because" (if you go to Venice, have lunch at C&O - well worth it - and not too expensive). I'd strongly recommend driving further north if you can - Santa Barbara and points north to Big Sur are definitely worth it - far more so than the day-to-day stuff in the urban sprawl of LA.

Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite - all are at the heart of what makes CA so magnificent (not the cities, IMHO) and are definitely worth going out of your way to see. Those are the things I miss most about the place.

Oh, and bring a crapload of money - it's expensive and you're gonna get it at every turn as a visitor/tourist.

[Rick Lee]

La Jolla and Coronado are definitely the best beaches for getting into the water, but it will still be cold. I swam in La Jolla in June once and it was pretty cold. When are you going? I'll be in SD later this month.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Good suggestions all, going inland to take in some of the natural forest and mountains is one that I had not thought of but is a must-do.

Rick, this will be early to mid July.

[Rick Lee]

Coastal CA can be nice in July. But much of the rest of the state is a furnace then. I've ridden my bike through Palm Springs a few times in July and it was just ridiculous. Check out Joshua Tree if you don't mind insane heat. I went to Death Valley once on July 4th. I though I was on Mercury.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Good suggestions all, going inland to take in some of the natural forest and mountains is one that I had not thought of but is a must-do.

Rick, this will be early to mid July.

One last thing, pack sweat shirts for the kids. On the coast, it can get cool at night, even in July.

[mikester]

In sd i would hit the zoo and the wild animal park - the animal parqk is pretty darned awesome.
Im not sure i would go all the way up to la itself but instead go to orange county and check out the beaches there like huntington or something like that. Then with your kid's ages i would suggest disney and california adventure. All of those in oc are very close to each other and easy to get too.

[craigster59]

With the kid's ages, you might try Legoland..
LEGOLAND California - LEGOLAND

[MES 944]

San Diego Zoo
LaJolla, Coronado Beaches

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Embraer

be sure to head a bit east into the mojave and see joshua tress and that type of stuff. joshua trees can't be found anywhere else in the world!

the thing that impresses me most about california is how different the terrain and landscape becomes, in a short amount of time.

In the summer? No thanks - triple digit temps.

Traditionally we have "June gloom" which is low clouds and fog at the coast, sometimes never really clearing. Usually June is not "beach weather." This past summer June gloom ran almost the entire summer. Was pretty odd. No matter what the weather, the water will be in the 60's - maybe hit 70. If the weather is warm it isn't a big deal - people are in the water no problem. But it ain't Hawaii or the Gulf Coast in that regard.

The usual suspects have been mentioned. San Diego has plenty of touristy places, as does LA. Realize that LA is HUGE and is a collection of a bunch of different towns/areas, some the same, some very different. It is best if you can hook up with a local who can give you some guidance. San Diego is more tourist friendly and not as big as LA, but still huge by most standards.

In the summer you can go to the mountains around LA/SD. Depends on your point of reference - if you're from CO, you won't be impressed. If you're been on the plains or cities they are nice. The coolest thing to me is that you can be in nice forests less than an hour away from madness.

Just depends on what you like to do and what you want to see. You can spend the better part of a day just trying to get across LA, so you need to plan with some foresight, and probably try to see less than you think you want to schedule.

[look 171]

Swim in Coronado (if you must, that's where I would go into the water), or LaJolla. The zoo will take you the whole day. The wild Animal Park as well but with kids, its a must. My kids like them both but I like the zoo better because you actually see the caged animals. You have to look for the tigers and other big animals which are always hiding. If you like that stuff, Midway is pretty cool to see. You can go up to Irvine and do cars and coffee and be back by 10:00am to take the kids out for breakfast and do other stuff and not burn the day. It might be a crazy day for you because its an hour north and they start at 6-6:30 in the morning. By 9, they are gone. If you like cars it is WORTH going. Do not forget Disney. You owe it to your kids. don't spend your money for the California Adventure next door. Its still part of Disney. Have dinner at Down Town Disney ( I think that's what they call it). Just right outside the park plenty of restaurants there. Expensive, but worth it IMO. Santa Monica and Venice is worth a trip just because you will be among the crowd. Fun things to see all the time along the boardwalk at Venice beach.

If you make it to Palm Springs, ya gotta take the tram up the hill. Take your older kids and do the donkey ride if they're still there. If not, take the hiking trail down the Round Valley and back. Its a really nice easy walk. I did that with my wife when she was 7 month pregnant. take your stroller for your baby. On your way out to Palms Spring, stop at the outlet mall. There are thousands of people that stop by there. Locals go there too and shop. You and I may be going out of our minds but your wife might mike it. I think its call Cabazon.

Try to make it to santa Barbara if you can. If you like the mountains, take a drive to LAke Arrowhead and big Bear.

Let us know what you or your kids would like to see/do, we reallly have it all here. I will try my best to help you out.

The Reagan Library is a cool place to visit (a few hours) then drive Mulholland back to Hollywood ( I can skip Hollywood and go up to the obsevatory and see LA). You get to see the old Air Force One. Yeah, go ahead and torture your kids.

[artplumber]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I'm not wanting to do just theme parks either, I just found the USS Midway museum that looks pretty cool.

Well if you don't want to do only theme parks, what do the kids like? Cars?

All of the big attractions are kinda theme parks. Some attractions that haven't been mentioned include the LaBrea Tar Pits, LA county Museum of art (near the Tar pits), Getty, Cal Science Center & Peterson Auto museum. Do you like food? Lots of different ethnicities avail. Parks? Balboa, Griffith Observatory. I think 100degrees is not too bad, and Joshua tree is beautiful - just far. Queen Mary not recommended. Laguna for artsy stuff. Most important is that you don't mind being in your car for extended periods of time - sometimes unexpectedly when there's an accident etc.

Don't swim in Cali. Go to Fl for that

[look 171]

I think you should dip yourselves in the Pacific.

[Rick Lee]

I'm pretty sure there are more Joshua trees in AZ along SR 93 between Wickenburg and Kingman than there are in Joshua Tree Nat. Park.